Apple and Samsung Increased Share to Control 52 Percent of Worldwide Smartphone Sales

Egham, UK -- February 13, 2013 -- Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 1.75 billion units in 2012, a 1.7 percent decline from 2011 sales, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphones continued to drive overall mobile phone sales, and the fourth quarter of 2012 saw record smartphone sales of 207.7 million units, up 38.3 percent from the same period last year.

Demand for feature phones remained weak in 2012 and in the fourth quarter. Feature phone sales totaled 264.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, down 19.3 percent year-on-year. Gartner analysts expect feature phones sales to continue to fall in 2013. Gartner predicts that sales of worldwide smartphone sales to end users will be close to 1 billion units in 2013, and overall mobile phone sales to end users are estimated to reach 1.9 billion units.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple and Samsung together raised their worldwide smartphone market share to 52 percent from 46.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Samsung ended the year in the No. 1 position, in both worldwide smartphone sales and overall mobile phone sales.

âThere is no manufacturer that can firmly lay claim to the No. 3 spot in global smartphone sales,â said Mr. Gupta. âThe success of Apple and Samsung is based on the strength of their brands as much as their actual products. Their direct competitors, including those with comparable products, struggle to achieve the same brand appreciation among consumers, who, in a tough economic environment, go for cheaper products over brand.â

Huawei had a good fourth quarter, which helped it reach the No. 3 position among smartphone vendors for the first time. In 2012, Huawei sold 27.2 million smartphones to end users, up 73.8 percent from 2011. Both, the Ascend D2 and Mate announced at this yearâs Computer Electronics Show (CES) aim to grow the companyâs brand perception as a premium product and increase its mobile phone margins. Gartner analysts said international markets are key for Huaweiâs growth in 2013, as well as being able to improve its product mix to a higher tier.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Samsungâs overall smartphone sales continued to accelerate totaling 64.5 million units, up 85.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. In 2012, Samsung totaled 384.6 million mobile phones sales, of which 53.5 percent (up from 28 percent in 2011) were smartphone sales.

Samsung's resources and ability to build a broad market reach is an advantage that no other competitor can easily match. However, the competition will intensify in 2013 as players such as Sony and Nokia improve. âWith Samsung commanding over 42.5 percent of the Android market globally, and the next vendor at just 6 percent share, the Android brand is being overshadowed by Samsung's brand with the Galaxy name nearly a synonym for Android phones in consumers' mind share,â said Mr. Gupta.

Appleâs sales reached 43.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 22.6 percent year-on-year. In 2012, Apple totaled 130 million smartphone sales worldwide. While the demand for iPhones in the fourth quarter remained strong, consumersâ demand favored the less expensive iPhone 4 and 4S models. The arrival of the iPad Mini also created a dilemma for some users when deciding if to upgrade an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S to an iPhone 5, or buy the new tablet.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Nokiaâs handset sales improved from a good response to its Asha mobile phones and the launch of the latest Lumia Windows Phone 8 models. It was not sufficient to stop Nokia to lose further market share, totaling 18 percent, the lowest it has ever been. In 2012, Nokia reached 39.3 million smartphone sales worldwide, down 53.6 percent from 2011. Analysts said that aside from the continued focus on Lumia, Nokia needs to build on momentum around Asha in 2013 by adding devices and apps to further enhance its overall value proposition and, in doing so, moving up the price point slightly to achieve better margins breaching the gap left by Symbian.

Table 1

Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q12 (Thousands of Units)

Company

4Q12Units

4Q12 Market Share (%)

4Q11Units

4Q11 Market Share (%)

Samsung

106,957.7

22.7

93,830.3

19.6

Nokia

85,054.8

18.0

111,699.4

23.4

Apple

43,457.4

9.2

35,456.0

7.4

ZTE

16,160.6

3.4

18,915.1

4.0

LG Electronics

14,981.3

3.2

16,938.3

3.5

Huawei Technologies

13,679.1

2.9

13,966.1

2.9

TCL Communication

11,097.6

2.4

10,695.3

2.2

Lenovo

8,305.4

1.8

5,206.3

1.1

Sony Mobile Communications

7,946.6

1.7

8,935.7

1.9

Motorola

7,822.2

1.7

10,075.3

2.1

Others

156,613.7

33.2

151,985.1

31.8

Total

472,076.4

100.0

477,703.0

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2013)

Table 2

Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2012 (Thousands of Units)

Company

2012Units

2012 Market Share (%)

2011Units

2011 Market Share (%)

Samsung

384,631.2

22.0

315,052.2

17.7

Nokia

333,938.0

19.1

422,478.3

23.8

Apple

130,133.2

7.5

89,263.2

5.0

ZTE

67,344.4

3.9

56,881.8

3.2

LG Electronics

58,015.9

3.3

86,370.9

4.9

Huawei Technologies

47,288.3

2.7

40,663.4

2.3

TCL Communication

37,176.6

2.1

34,037.5

1.9

Research In Motion

34,210.3

2.0

51,541.9

2.9

Motorola

33,916.3

1.9

40,269.1

2.3

HTC

32,121.8

1.8

43,266.9

2.4

Others

587399.6

33.6

595886.9

33.6

Total

1,746,175.6

100.0

1,775,712.0

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2013)

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market (see Table 3), Android captured more than 50 percent of the OS market, widening the gap with Appleâs iOS. While Android grew 87.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, RIM declined 44.4 percent in the same period. Microsoft had a better fourth quarter, with its share growing 1.2 percentage points, and its smartphone sales increasing 124.2 percent year-on-year.

â2013 will be the year of the rise of the third ecosystem as the battle between the new BlackBerry10 and Widows Phone intensifies,â said Mr. Gupta. âAs carriers and vendors feel the pressure of the strong Androidâs growth, alternative operating systems such as Tizen, Firefox, Ubuntu and Jolla will try and carve out an opportunity by positioning themselves as profitable alternatives.â

Table 3

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 4Q12 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System

4Q12Units

4Q12 Market Share (%)

4Q11 Units

4Q11 Market Share (%)

Android

144,720.3

69.7

77,054.2

51.3

iOS

43,457.4

20.9

35,456.0

23.6

Research In Motion

7,333.0

3.5

13,184.5

8.8

Microsoft

6,185.5

3.0

2,759.0

1.8

Bada

2,684.0

1.3

3,111.3

2.1

Symbian

2,569.1

1.2

17,458.4

11.6

Others

713.1

0.3

1,166.5

0.8

Total

207,662.4

100.0

150,189.9

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2013)

Additional information is in the Gartner report "Market Share Analysis: Mobile Phones, Worldwide, 4Q12 and 2012." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=2334916.

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